3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An off-beat entry for Gene, October 10, 2007
This review is from: Home on the Prairie (DVD)
Gene Autry's westerns often required a certain suspension of disbelief, and that's certainly true of this one, which involves Frog Millhouse's temporary acquisition of a real, live elephant!
Gene and Frog are county cattle inspectors who try to help save the herd of pretty young June Storey and her father, George Cleveland (later Gramps on TV's "Lassie") from being destroyed by the state veterinarian because of hoof and mouth disease. The bad guys are smuggling a herd which actually is infected with the fatal disease through to the railhead so they can sell them before the contagious condition becomes visible, and they have fooled the state official into thinking it is Cleveland's herd which is actually afflicted.
This is a slightly lesser entry than some of Autry's, but it is nevertheless very entertaining. It's Gene and June's first picture together, and there is a freshness about their scenes as if each were saying, "Wow! He's (she's) cute!" Autry and Storey sing a beautiful duet of "Moonlight on the Ranchhouse" early on.
Smiley Burnette as Frog gets to do a little more than his usual silliness this time, shepherding around the elephant he's watching temporarily for medicine show "doctor" Earle Hodgins (in the role he almost always played when appearing in Autry movies). Hodgins gets locked up by the sheriff early in the picture because of his shenanigans when his show passed through the area the year before. Autry, Millhouse and Hodgins later think of a unique way to utilize the elephant's talents at a crucial point in the story.
Apparently director Jack Townley allowed Gene a freer rein in doing his own stunts than some others at Republic Pictures. Autry reportedly liked doing his own stunt work when permitted, and besides a couple of fights he performs his own transfer from Champ's back to the rear platform of a moving train. By this time in his career (1939) Autry's riding and stunts had become much tighter and more skillful.
If you like Autry's pictures from this period, before he became knee-deep in spoiled eastern heiresses, this one is for you.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Gene Autry B-Western Series ... Home on the Prairie (1939) ... Image Ent.", July 22, 2007
This review is from: Home on the Prairie (DVD)
Republic Pictures present "HOME ON THE PRAIRIE" (February 3, 1939) (60 mins/B&W)(Fully Restored/Dolby Digitally Remastered) --- relive those thrilling days when the "First Singing Cowboy" Gene Autry took us down the dusty trails with hard riding and straight shooting hitting the bull's eye with excitement every time ... the Gene Autry series of B-Westerns were a staple of Saturday matinees in the 1930s and 1940s --- The Following Segments are from the "Melody Ranch Theater", which originally aired on the Nashville Network in 1987 --- Hosted by Gene and longtime sidekick Pat Buttram the program showcased many of Gene's classic motion pictures and featured personal anecdotes about how the films were made --- Information on costars and significant happenings in Gene's personal life and career. --- don't miss any of the Singing Cowboy's features loaded with action and songs that will leave you wanting more of Gene Autry's B-Western Adventures --- The sale of this DVD will further the educational and cultural mission of the renowned "Autry National Center in Los Angeles"
Under Joseph Kane (Director), Charles E. Ford (Producer), Betty Burbridge (Screenwriter), Jack Natteford (Screenwriter), William Nobles (Cinematographer), Gene Autry (Songwriter), Alberto Colombo (Composer (Music Score), Charles Kenny (Songwriter), Nick Kenny (Songwriter), Johnny Marvin (Songwriter), Fred Rose (Songwriter), Les Orlebeck (Editor) - - - - our story and plotline, when Belnap finds his herd infected with hoof and mouth disease, he tries to ship them immediately --- but Gene finds an infected cow and quarantines all the herds --- To get permission to ship, Belnap changes the brand on one of his infected cows to the Wheeler brand --- Gene knows the Wheeler herd is safe and sets out to find the infected herd --- with the aid of a friendly elephant, Gene and Frog uncover the truth - - - - some wonderful tunes "THERE'S NOTHING LIKE WORK" (Smiley Burnette), ""I'M GONNA ROUND UP MY BLUES" (Gene Autry and The Rodeoliers), "SHE'LL BE COMIN' ROUND THE MOUNTAIN" (The Rodeoliers), "MOONLIGHT ON THE RANCH HOUSE" (Gene Autry and June Storey), "BIG BULL FROG" (Gene Autry) - - - - By 1948, the Dell Publishing Company turned out over one million Gene Autry Comics each year.
the cast includes
Gene Autry ... Gene Autry
Smiley Burnette ... Frog Millhouse
June Storey ... Martha Wheeler
George Cleveland ... Jim Wheeler
Jack Mulhall ... Dr. Sommers
Walter Miller ... Belknap
Gordon Hart ... H.R. Shelby
Hal Price ... Sheriff
Earle Hodgins ... 'Professor' Wentworth
Ethan Laidlaw ... Henchman Carter
John Beach ... Henchman Russ
Jack Ingram ... Henchman Wilson
Bob Woodward ... Henchman Madden
Sherven Brothers Rodeoliers ... Musicians (as The Rodoliers)
Champion ... Gene's Horse
Art Dillard ... Deputy
Jack Kirk ... Rancher
Dorothy Vernon ... Woman Dancing with Frog Millhouse
BIOS:
1. Gene Autry
Date of Birth: 29 September 1907 - Near Tioga, Texas
Date of Death: 2 October 1998 - Studio City, Los Angeles, California
Special footnote, Orvon Gene Autry was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television --- Discovered by film producer Nat Levine in 1934, he and Burnette made their film debut for Mascot Pictures Corp. "In Old Santa Fe" as part of a singing cowboy quartet; he was then given the starring role by Levine in 1935 in the 12-part serial "The Phantom Empire" --- Shortly thereafter, Mascot was absorbed by the formation of Republic Pictures Corp. and Autry went along to make a further 44 films up to 1940, all B westerns in which he played under his own name, rode his horse Champion, had Burnette as his regular sidekick and had many opportunities to sing in each film --- Autry became the top Western star at the box-office by 1937, reaching his national peak of popularity from 1940 to 1942. His Gene Autry Flying "A" Ranch Rodeo show debuted in 1940 --- Gene Autry is the only celebrity to have five stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one in each of the five categories maintained by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce --- Radio, Films, Recordings, Television and Live Theater.
2. Smiley Burnette
Date of Birth: 18 March 1911 - Summum, Illinois
Date of Death: 16 February 1967 - Encino, California
Second special footnote, Lester Alvin (Smiley) Burnette an American singer-songwriter who could play as many as 100 different musical instruments, was a successful comedy actor in Western films over three decades --- The popularity of Burnette's Frog Millhouse character, with his trademark floppy black hat, was such that when Autry left for World War II service he did sidekicks duties with Eddie Dew, Sunset Carson and Bob Livingston, plus nine other films with Roy Rogers. After leaving Republic Pictures in 1944, Burnette became the sidekick to Charles Starrett at Columbia Pictures in the long Durango Kid series. Starrett starred in the series from 1944 until 1952, and that pairing resulted in more than 50 films. After the Starrett series was over, Burnette joined Autry for his final six films, all released by Columbia Pictures in 1953.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
1. Reminiscing with Gene Autry and Pat Buttram at the "Melody Ranch Theater"
2. "Don't Touch That Dial", Gene Autry is on the air - excerpts from the Original "Melody Ranch Radio Show"
3. Production and Publicity Stills
4. Horseplay
5. Poster and lobby Card Art
6. Trivia and Movie Facts
7. Original Press Kit Material
Check out a new book from Empire Publishing - "GENE AUTRY WESTERNS" (Hardcover) - by author Boyd Magers, like no other book on Gene Autry --- all of Gene's Mascot, Republic and Columbia westerns included, as well as his half-hour TV Episodes --- each segment contains the release date on each film ... major production credits ... complete cast (including character played) ... all songs included, songwriter and who performed them in the film ... running time of each film ... dates of the filming ... bios on the cast and major players (Smiley, Pat Buttram, Cass County Boys, Herbert J. Yates, directors, leading ladies, songwriters and various heavies, etc.) ... locations that were used ... budgets and negative cost ... stunt people involved ... analysis and synopsis on each film ... notes and comments (including film and cast background info, salaries paid, working titles, etc) ... comments from Gene and many other cast members on each film ... theater exhibitors comments at the time of the films release ...this tribute was written from the heart and it shows.
Hats off and thanks to Les Adams (collector/guideslines for character identification), Chuck Anderson (Webmaster: The Old Corral/B-Westerns.Com), Boyd Magers (Western Clippings), Bobby J. Copeland (author of "Trail Talk"), Rhonda Lemons (Empire Publishing Inc), Bob Nareau (author of "The Real Bob Steele") and Trevor Scott (Down Under Com) as they have rekindled my interest once again for Film Noir, B-Westerns and Serials --- looking forward to more high quality releases from the vintage serial era of the '20s, '30s & '40s and B-Westerns ... order your copy now from Amazon where there are plenty of copies available on DVD --- stay tuned once again for top notch action mixed with deadly adventure --- if you enjoyed this title, why not check out Image Entertainment where they are experts in releasing B-Westerns --- all my heroes have been cowboys!
Total Time: 60 min on DVD ~ Image Video #4002 ~ (5/20/2003)
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
